Eleven

What happens when you get six, 11 year old girls together for a birthday slumber party? Chaos! Hannah celebrated her birthday on Friday (her actual birthday was Feb. 19.) Here are some of the highlights:

Lots of junk food
Pink Panther 2 (funny, if you like slapstick)
Two birthday cakes (one chocolate, one white)
Several new Webkinz
Dancing to the Jonas Brothers' CD
Watching High School Musical 3 at midnight
Sleeping on air mattresses in the basement

I would say that pretty much sums up every pre-teen girl's idea of the perfect night. For this mom, it was just a little more fun than I can tolerate in one dose. But it is fun to finally do some girl stuff!

I Couldn't Resist!

Lord only knows where all of the photos in this house are located. I've tried over the past 5 years or so to locate them, sort them chronologically, and store them so that they don't turn green and can actually be located when I get the urge (and time) to scrapbook them. But every now and then another "stash" surfaces. Like today. Al was digging around in that disaster we call the basement storage room and found a manila envelope with a half-dozen black & white photos, including these gems.

These are a couple of photos taken when Al participated in a Fantasy Basketball Camp when we lived in Chicago. This camp, which we could never have afforded, was somehow given to him by our friend, Michael Crandal. It was hosted by the Chicago Bulls, coached by actual NBA coaches, and attended by some of the Bulls themselves, including Michael Jordon and Scottie Pippin. I'm pretty sure this experience would rank #1 in Al's most memorable life events. I'm positive it would beat out our wedding, and fairly confident it ranks above the birth of any of our children. And that's not a disparaging statement...it was really that big a deal!!

Anyway, we believe this was either 1989 or 1990 (why didn't they print the date on the back of photos back then??) so that makes Al around 29 or 30 years old. I look at these pictures and remember exactly why I thought he was so dang HOT! Look at those legs!

Al was quick to comment that his physique hasn't changed a bit. When I snickered under my breath, he responded, "Hey, do you want to compare some pictures of you in 1990 and today and see whose body has changed more?"

No, I don't. And I think he might be cooking dinner tonight if he wants to eat.

The Birthdays (plural) celebration

We had a nice family dinner at Red Lobster to celebrate David, Al, and Dad's birthdays. Here are some photos:

February Frenzy

And so it starts...the second craziest month of my year - February. What, you may ask, is so crazy about February?? Well, it has hands down the most birthdays of any month of the year - for members of our family, at least. And these are not meaningless birthdays. Here they are for those of you who need reminders to make that obligatory birthday phone call...

February 5.......David turns 16 (we'll need to fit the Department of Transportation into that day somehow, and then I would advise you all to stay off the road for a few weeks.)

February 6.......Al turns 50! Now that's a landmark birthday any way you cut it.

February 8.......Dad turns 75 (we hope to celebrate with him if he ever returns from his world travels)

February 19......Hannah turns 11 (I'm pretty sure she will be getting the short end of the stick this year - there won't be much left once we get to the 19th!)

Anyway, to start this month of birthdays off, I've created a scrapbook page tribute to Al and his half-century of life. It even won a contest over at www.jenwilsondesigns.com which, I've been told, is because he's so incredibly HOT for an old guy!! Click on the picture to see it full sized.

Love ya, honey!

Pinned!

Turn him over (clap, clap)
On the mat (clap, clap)
Turn him over, on the mat, lay him flat! (clap, clap)

The old wrestling cheers are coming back to me as I've spent a LOT of time at wrestling meets over the past two months.

For those of you who missed the wrestling meets of the past week, there has been some pretty exciting stuff going on! David seems to be pulling things together and has done very well in several matches against Urbandale, Union, and Knoxville. Yesterday in his first match he pinned his opponent! It was a well-matched competition, with David nearly getting pinned himself in the first period, but getting a reversal and pinning the Knoxville junior in the second period. The Johnston crowd was ecstatic, but was probably more entertained by the insane mother who was screaming at the top of her lungs! I was so excited I thought I was going to have a heart attack!

Later, the conversation with David went something like this:

Mom: Everyone was so excited for you, David!
David: Yeah, I could hear it.
Mom: Could you hear me screaming?
David: Yup.
Mom: Does that bother you?
David: No; Actually it kinda helps.

Gotta love that kid!

Top 10 Things I've Learned About Wrestling

I've learned a lot about wrestling this season. Since I'm past the age of being able to truthfully say "I learn something new every day," I'm pretty excited. So here is what I've learned...

1. Bleachers are really uncomfortable, no matter how much padding your butt has. The maximum uncomfortable point comes at around the sixth hour of sitting on them.

2. Ignore the signs that say "No Coolers or Outside Food Allowed."

3. The "Real" wrestling parents have, at minimum, 300 mm lenses for their Canon cameras.

4. The command "Shoot!" has nothing to do with guns, although I believe most of the mothers watching their son's matches wish that it did (if for no other reason than to shorten the duration of #1 above.)

5. Yelling, "You can do it!" only reveals your stupidity about the sport, however "Head UP!" is usually a pretty safe thing to yell, no matter what position your son is in.

6. Remember Gumby? He couldn't do half of the things these kids do with their limbs!

7. Never, under any circumstances, make any comment about an opposing player to anyone sitting close to you. Murphy's Law dictates that person will be the kid's parent. (Fortunately, I didn't do this but had the interesting experience of hearing the comments about MY kid! I had to turn the self-control knob all the way up!)

8. Wrestling attire are not called "tights." They're called "singlets." What would a "doublet" be?

9. "Cradling" your opponent, unlike cradling your baby, is not a loving gesture, and

10. Essentially, the entire point of wrestling is to stay OFF the bottom which, unfortunately, is where David has spent most of the season. Until yesterday. Yesterday David pinned (yes, I said PINNED) his Urbandale opponent at the Valley tournament. This mom was pumped!

The Next Male Supermodel?

So he said he would get a haircut in January. True to his word, here is Darrin's haircut, done at one of the most exclusive, expensive salons in town. I think he got robbed... But then again, if the look you're going for is male supermodel or rock legend, maybe? Or perhaps we've been teleported back to 1977? One can always hope....